Baker Without Borders

This is an excellent recipe from Yotam Ottolenghi and Helen Goh’s dessert cookbook, Sweet. I made only one change to the original recipe, which happened entirely by accident. Some friends and I had planned to double the recipe to feed a large group of people. We chopped up twice the amount of apples, but forgot to … Continue reading Apple Olive Oil Cake – With Extra Apples

I first read about peach focaccia, a sweet-savory twist on the classic Italian bread, in the New York Times.  I shared the recipe with a friend, and she mentioned that all summer long, she’d been eating sliced peaches sprinkled with goat cheese and basil honey. The combination sounded delicious. So when I adapted the New York … Continue reading Peach, Basil, Honey, and Goat Cheese Focaccia

In my latest Knockturnal post, I shared a recipe for a strawberry galette filled with pecan frangipane. Galettes, hand-shaped pies with origins in France, are one of my favorite ways to showcase summer fruits. I used strawberries when they were in season, but feel free to substitute any summer fruit of your choice. (Peaches, apricots, … Continue reading Whole Wheat Strawberry Pecan Galette

The idea for these delicate, sugar-dusted sandwich cookies came about as I was brainstorming what to do with a pound of fresh apricots sitting on my countertop. I cooked the fruit into a simple jam featuring freshly grated ginger and an unusual ingredient: balsamic vinegar. Fruit preserves typically contain lemon juice, but any acidic ingredient … Continue reading Apricot Ginger Sandwich Cookies

Fresh strawberries and mint are a classic combination. So are chocolate and peppermint. All these flavors come together in a refreshing fruit tart with a peppermint-flavored crust as well as custard filling. Thanks to a high concentration of menthol, peppermint has a stronger flavor than it’s cousin, spearmint, and is used more frequently in desserts. … Continue reading Strawberry Peppermint Tart

For my latest column in The Knockturnal, I wrote about my vegan twist on Lebanese rice pudding, made with almond milk instead of the dairy variety and topped with roasted, slightly sweetened, cinnamon-and-salt-infused almonds. I came across the original recipe for rooz ib haleeb, as the pudding is called in Arabic, while flipping through The … Continue reading Almond Cinnamon Rice Pudding

Bourekas, savory pastries popular in the Middle East, have a long and interesting history, as described by food writer and photographer Tori Avey. They originated as deep-fried dumplings in Central Asia and made their way to Turkey, transforming into flaky, filled pies called bureks. The pies reminded Turkey’s Sephardic Jewish community, who settled in the … Continue reading Bourekas with Dandelion Greens, Goat Cheese, and Caramelized Onions